The Part Borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia 1606-1765 Part 17

...[We] thought fit to give orders for the s.h.i.+p Vyanen [*] to sail to the strait of Balamboan. [She] sailed [from Batavia] thither on the 14th of January, and from there stood out to sea on the 25th do. She was by head-winds driven so far to south-ward that she came upon the South-land beyond Java where she ran aground, so that she was forced to throw overboard 8 or 10 lasts of pepper and a quant.i.ty of copper, upon which through G.o.d's mercy she got off again without further damage...

[* That commander Gerrit Frederikszoon De Witt, was on board this s.h.i.+p, is proved by an original letter of his, dated August 6, 1628 (Hague State Archives).]

B.

_See the Hessel Gerritsz--Huydecoper Chart (No 5.--VII D), which has G. F.

De Witts-land._

C.

_Instructions for Tasman, 1644 [*]._

[* The well-known chart of TASMAN, 1644 (see my Life of, Tasman, pp.

71-73) also has the name G. F. De Witt's Land.]

...Meanwhile in the year 1627 the s.h.i.+p t' Gulde Zeepaert,...discovered...the south coast of the great Southland, and in the following year 1628 the s.h.i.+p Viana, homeward bound from Batavia, equally unexpectedly discovered the coast of the same land on the north side in the Southern Lat.i.tude of 21 degrees, and sailed along it a distance of about 50 miles; none of these discoveries, however, resulting in the obtaining of any considerable information respecting the situation and condition of this vast land, it only having been found that it has barren and dangerous coasts, green, fertile fields and exceedingly savage, black, barbarian inhabitants...

XXII.

(before 1629) DISCOVERY OF JACOB REMESSENS-, REMENS-, OR ROMMER-RIVER, SOUTH OF WILLEMS RIVER [*].

[* I do not know the date of this discovery. Since Pelsaert was acquainted with it, it must have taken place before 1629 or 1628. It cannot have been much earlier, as the name is not found in Hessel Gerritsz's charts. I must mention, however, that Leupe has found a steersman of the name of Jacob Remmetsz referred to in the archives of the E.I.C. about the year 1619.]

A.

_Daily annotations of Pelsaert, 1629 (See infra)._

...This 16th [of June]...we were in Lat.i.tude 22 degrees 17 minutes. I intended to sail to Jacop Remmessens river.

{Page 55}

B.

_Keppler Map (No. 6.--VII E)._

XXIII.

(1629). [*] s.h.i.+PWRECK OF THE s.h.i.+P BATAVIA UNDER COMMANDER FRANcOIS PELSAERT ON HOUTMANS ABROLHOS [**].--FURTHER DISCOVERY OF THE WEST-COAST OF AUSTRALIA.

[* In the year 1628 certain other Dutch vessels sighted or touched at the west-coast of Australia on their outward voyage to India (see LEUPE, _Zuidland_, p. 58; my edition of the Daily Register of Batavia, p. 341).

What we know on this point is without interest. I merely mention the fact here, without entering into particulars.]

[** The fact and the particulars of this s.h.i.+pwreck have become sufficiently known, the narrative of it having been published repeatedly and in different languages (see TIELE, Memoires bibliographiques, pp.

262-268; _Id_. Bibliographie Land- en Volkenkunde, pp. 172, 190-191, 258f.--Cf. e.g. also MAJOR, Early Voyages, pp. Lx.x.xIX--XCII; 59-74). I accordingly print in the text only what is strictly necessary; but I give almost _in extenso_ Pelsaert's journal of his exploratory voyage along the west-coast of Australia.]

A.

_Woeful diurnal annotations [of Commander PELSAERT] touching the loss of our s.h.i.+p Batavia, run aground on the Abrolhos, or rocks of Fredrick Houtman, situated in 28 degrees S. Lat., at 9 miles' distance from the Southland._

On the fourth of June [1619], it being Whitmonday, with a light, clear full moon, about two hours before daybreak...I felt the s.h.i.+p's rudder strike the rocks with a violent horrible shock. Upon which the s.h.i.+p's course was forthwith checked by the rocks...I rushed on deck, and found all the sails atop; the wind south-west; our course during the night had been north-east by north, and we were now lying amidst thick foam. Still, at the moment, the breakers round the s.h.i.+p were not violent, but shortly after the sea was heard to run upon us with great vehemence on all sides...

[When] day broke, we found ourselves surrounded by cliffs and shoals...

I saw no land that I thought would remain above water at high tide, except an island, which by estimation was fully three miles from the s.h.i.+p. I therefore sent the skipper to two small islets or cliffs, in order to ascertain whether our men and part of our cargo could be landed there. About 9 o'clock the skipper returned, informing me that it was well-nigh impossible to get through the rocks and cliffs, the pinnace running aground in one place, and the water being several fathom deep in another. As far as he could judge, the islands would remain above water at high tide. Therefore, moved by the loud lamentations raised on board by women, children, sick people, and faint-hearted men, we thought it best first to land the greater part of our people...

[On June 5] at their earnest instances to move me, it was determined, as shown by the resolution, that we should try to find fresh water in the neighbouring islands, or on the mainland coast in order to save their lives and our own; and that, if no water should be found, we should in that case at the mercy of G.o.d with the pinnace continue our voyage to Batavia, there to make known our calamitous and unheard-of disasters...

{Page 56}

This day the 6th do...[we] set sail in the pinnace, and on this day touched at two separate islands, where we found at best some brackish water, which had collected in the cavities of the rocks on the beach after the rain, but it was largely mixed with seawater. On the 7th do. we remained here, in order to repair our pinnace with a plank, for we found that without this it would have been impossible to reach the mainland...

On the 8th do. in the morning we set sail from this island for the mainland...

At noon we were in 28 13' Lat., and shortly after sighted the mainland, which we estimated to lie 6 miles north by west of our s.h.i.+p. The wind blew from the west, and we sounded 25 and 30 fathom about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. During the night we kept off the land, and after midnight shaped our course for it again.

In the morning of the 9th we were still about 3 miles from the land, the wind being mainly north-west with some rain; in the last 24 hours we covered 4 or 5 miles by estimation, course held north by west. The land here extends chiefly north by west and south by east. It is a barren, rocky coast without trees, about the height of Dover in England.

We here saw a small inlet, and some low land with dunes, which we meant to touch at, but on nearer approach we found a heavy sea and violent breakers on the sh.o.r.e, while at the same time the swell from the west suddenly began to run towards the land so strongly and so high, that we could hardly keep off it, the less so as the storm always rose in violence.

On the 10th do. we kept holding off and on for twenty-four hours owing to the strong wind, while the storm from the north-west, which stood on the boat we had taken with us, forced us to cut the same adrift and to throw overboard a part of the bread we had with us, together with other things that were in the way, since we could not keep the water out of our pinnace.

During the night we were in great peril of foundering owing to the violent gale and the hollow seas. We could not keep off the land, because we did not venture to carry sail, and so were wholly at the mercy of wind and waves, while it kept raining the whole night.

On the 1lth do. in the morning the weather began somewhat to abate, the wind turning to west-south-west, upon which we held our course to northward, but the sea was still very rough.

On the 12th do. at noon we were in Lat. 27; we ran close along the land with a south-east wind, but could find no means to get near the land with the pinnace, owing to the violent surf; we found the coast falling off very steeply, without any foreland or inlets, such as other lands are found to have: in short it seemed to us a barren, accursed earth without leaf.a.ge or gra.s.s.

On the 13th do. at noon we were in Lat. 25 40'; we found ourselves drifting very rapidly northward, having rounded the point where the land extends mainly N.N.E. and S.S.W. During the last 24 hours our course was chiefly north. The coast was steep, consisting of red rock, without foreland, of the same height almost everywhere, and impossible to touch at owing to the breakers.

On the 14th do. in the morning there was a faint breeze, but during the day it fell a dead calm. At noon we were in Lat. 24; course held N., with a S.E. wind; during the whole of the day the current carried us northward against our will, for we {Page 57} were running along the land with small sail. In the afternoon we saw smoke rising up from the land; we accordingly rowed to sh.o.r.e in order to land if possible, with our spirits somewhat raised, for I concluded that if there were men, there must be water too. Coming near the sh.o.r.e, I found it to be a steeply rising coast, full of rocks and stones, with the surf running violently; nevertheless 6 of our men swam ash.o.r.e, and we remained at anchor with the pinnace in 25 fathom outside the surf. The men now searched for water everywhere until nightfall, without, however, finding any; they also saw four men coming up to them, creeping on all fours, but when our men all of a sudden emerged from a depression of the ground, and approached them, they sprang to their feet, and ran off in full career, all which we could distinctly see from the pinnace. They were black men, stark naked, without the least covering. In the evening our men swam on board again, all of them grievously wounded by the rocks on which they been dashed by the breakers. We therefore weighed anchor again to seek a better place for landing, and ran on during the night with small sail close along the sh.o.r.e, but out of the reach of the surf.

On the 15th do. in the morning we were near a point of the coast off which a large reef extended about a mile in length, we ran in between the land and this reef, which we estimated to be in 23 Lat., and thus sailed along the coast, along which there was another reef, inside which the water seemed to be very smooth and still; we did our best to get inside this second reef, but did not find an opening before noon, when we saw a pa.s.sage where there was no surf, we ran into it, but found it to be full of stones, and sometimes no more than one or two feet deep.

This coast had a foresh.o.r.e covered with dunes about a mile in width, before you come to the higher part. We therefore began to dig in divers places, but the water proved to be salt; some of us went to the higher land, where by good luck we found in a rock a number of cavities, in which a quant.i.ty of rain-water had collected. It also seemed that a short time before there had been natives there, for we found some crab-sh.e.l.ls lying about and here and there fire-ashes. Here we somewhat quenched our cruel thirst, which almost prevented us from dragging ourselves along, for since the loss of our s.h.i.+p we had had no more than one or two mutchkins daily, without any wine or other drink. Besides quenching our own thirst, we here gathered about 80 cans of water, and remained there for the night.

On the 16th do. in the morning we continued our exploration in order to find out whether there were more water-pits in the mountains, but our search was fruitless, for it seemed not to have rained there for a long time past, and we found no traces of running water, the higher ground being again very barren and unpromising, without any trees, shrubs or gra.s.s, but with plenty of high ant-hills in all directions. These ant~hills consisted of earth thrown up, and from afar somewhat resembled huts for the abode of men.

We also found such mult.i.tudes of flies here, which perched on our mouths and crept into our eyes, that we could not keep them off our persons. We likewise saw 8 blacks here, each of them carrying a stick in his hand; they came within a musketshot's distance of us, but when we went up to them, they ran off, and we could not get them to stop, that we might come near them. Towards noon, when we found there was no more water to be had, we set sail again, and pa.s.sed through another opening of the reef a little more to northward. We were here in 22 17' Lat. I intended to run on to Jacop Remessens river, but the wind went round to North-east, so that we could not keep near the land, and seeing that we were now more than {Page 58} 100 miles from those we had left behind on the island-rocks, and that up to now we had not found water enough to a.s.sist them all, but only so much as would afford two mutchkins daily to ourselves, we were compelled to resolve to do our best in order with G.o.d's help to continue our voyage to Batavia as expeditiously as possible, that the Hon. Lord Governor-general might order measures to be taken for the succour of those we had left behind...